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Elderly people and those with disability have been forced to stand in long queues for Woolworths supermarkets, only to discover empty shelves inside, despite special arrangements for the most vulnerable shoppers to beat the crowds.
Woolworths has conceded its first day of a dedicated shopping hour for pensioners and people with disability "wasn't perfect", with some stores still stripped of many items due to panic buying.
"It was a little disappointing," said Thelma, in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Box Hill. "We went early and couldn't get much stuff."
Thelma, who declined to give a surname, took her mother Mercy, 67, to the local Woolworths at 6:30am — half an hour before opening time.
By 6:45am, the queue snaked outside the shopping mall.
"Then the manager told us they'd had no deliveries overnight," she said.
"There was no toilet paper and no tissues.
"Staff told us they were going to try to put stuff on the shelves tonight."
Woolworths was the first of the two supermarket giants to introduce the dedicated shopping hour, from 7:00am this morning. Coles plans to do the same from Wednesday.
It follows clashes between shoppers, including scuffles over toilet paper, as many Australians stockpile products as anxieties over the coronavirus outbreak intensify.
For many people with a disability, there is still uncertainty about how the special shopping hours will work.
"People are finding it deeply confusing and distressing," said El Gibbs from People with Disability Australia.
"They're not sure which hours they're supposed to go … people who don't have a pension card are not sure they can use that special one hour."
Ms Gibbs said her organisation had been contacted by many people with disabilities who were growing increasingly anxious.
"It's a mess. I can't tell you how freaked out people are," she said.
"We've had reports of carers who've been turned away [from the dedicated shopping hour] if they're with people with disability. They've been told they're not allowed to go in.
"We are begging the supermarkets to talk to us."
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'We know it wasn't perfect,' Woolworths boss says
In a written statement, Woolworths managing director Claire Peters said the company was doing the best it could to get more stock onto shelves "as quickly as possible in the face of unprecedented demand".
"It's day one of our dedicated shopping hour and we know it wasn't perfect across all of our stores," she said.
"While we've heard positive feedback from many stores across the country, we regret that many customers were unable to get all the items they needed this morning.
"We'll continue to operate the dedicated hour for the rest of the week — taking on the lessons of the day and getting better along the way."
Not all stores were overrun. Meg Pardon, 74, took advantage of special shopping hours in Blackburn South in Melbourne's east.
She arrived just before 7:00am.
"There was a moderate crowd, about 50 people," she said.
It was not chaos, but many of the shelves were depleted, Ms Pardon said. Despite that, she said she was able to get most of the items on her list.
"I just feel sorry for those who can't get here," she said.
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Topics: epidemics-and-pandemics, health, disabilities, older-people, melbourne-3000, australia
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